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ASUS Z87-Plus Review

ASUS Z87-Plus Testing:

LAN performance will be tested via a utility to gauge the performance of the onboard network solutions. The motherboard being tested will be connected via a Gigabit switch to another system with an integrated Gigabit network solution on board.

iPerf: is a small lightweight utility run from the command prompt and can be used to measure both TCP and UDP performance on a network. iPerf is cross platform software and open source. The test is configured to run for 20 seconds with a window size of 256 KB and four simultaneous streams that should be able to saturate the TCP link on a good NIC.

Rightmark Audio Analyzer 6.25 is used to test the sound solution on board each motherboard. Nothing beats a good set of ears and headphones but this is a graphic representation of the capabilities of the installed hardware. Sampling mode is 24-bit 44kHz.

Intel DZ87KLT-75

MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming

ASUS ROG M6H

ASUS Z87-PLUS

Frequency Response dB

+3.65,-2.33

+0.52,+ 0.30

+0.23,+0.12

-0.01, -0.07

Noise Level dBA

-91.3

-91.3

-91.5

-85.3

Dynamic Range dBA

91.3

91.2

91.5

85.4

Total Harmonic distortion %

0.481

0.131

0.436

0.0059

Intermodulation distortion +noise

1.393

0.259

0.365

0.019

Stereo Crosstalk,db

-69.7

-91.6

-89.2

-84.9

Intermodulation distortion + noise (Swept Freq) %

0.465

.323

.311

.017

Frequency Response (Swept Sine), db

+1.3,-2.4

+0.1,-0.1

+0.0,-0.1

+0.0, -0.0

The network tests reveal no weaknesses on the part of the Z87-Plus. The audio tests, on the other hand, reveal something unexpected. While the signal to noise ratio (which directly governs the dynamic range and crosstalk measurements) for the Z87-Plus was a bit lower than the other boards, every other parameter tested was superior. THD %, IMD %, and frequency response are all far superior to even the higher end boards tested!